Improved suspension-bbidge



EDWARD M. CARPENTER, OF MIDDLETOWN, NEW YORK.

Leners Parent No. 77.800, dared May 12,1868.

VIltIPltOVl-'QD SUSPENSION-BRIDGE.

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TO- ALL WHQM IT MAY-OONOERN:

Be it known that I, EDWARD M. CARPENTER, ot Middletown, inthe county of Orange, and State of New York, have invented a ncwand useful Improvement in Suspension-Bridges; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part'ot' this specification.

Figure 1 represents a side elevation of my improved suspension-bridge.

Figure 2 is a vertical transversesection of the same,taken on tho plane ofnthe line :l: a', iig. 1.

Figure 3 is a horizontal sectional view ot" the same, taken on the plane of the line y y,'tig. 1.

Similailetters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

This invention relates to a new suspension-bridge, which is so `arranged that -it can always beheld tense, andthat it does not depend upon the construction and strength of its top and bottom chord.

The invention consists in making each of'the uprightsA of the bridge of two pieces, which are not at all connected with each other,and between which, from above, a wedge is inserted, which driveslthe upper ends of each pair of uprights apart, thereby stretching all parts of the'whole bridge-frame, and producing the desired arch. The wedges are downward adjustable, by being connected with bolts or rods, and, by means of this.

adjustment, they can always be brought farther down, to tighten the frame, if thewood should shrink.

A, in the drawing, represents the upright posts o a bridge. They are built of Vsuitable material, in any suitable manner. The frameof Athe bridge consists of sections B B, each of which sections consisting of two -nprights, a a, that are connected by means of braces, b l1, framed into them, as is clearly shown in fig. 1. rlrhe end-sections, B, bear against uprights C C, that are rmly secured to or`upon the posts A, while the various sections of one row arevnot connected amongst themselves, but are simply suspended from the top cord, D, by

` means of bolts, c c, that connect the two rows ot'- sections, on each side of the bridge, as in fig. 2. Thelower ends of the opposite sections of two rows are also connected, by means of bolts, d d, that fit below the bottom chord, E, as shown. v v.

When the sections have been thus suspended from the cord, wedges FF are inserted between the contiguous posts, a a, of every two adjoining sections, and also .between the contiguous post, a, and uprights C.` These wedges are connected with screw1ods e e, that h ave nuts, g, at their lower ends, such nuts resting against the lon-Ter end of the posts a d, as is clearly shown in the drawings. i y By forcing the wedges downward, the upper parts of the sections will be spread apart, and the lower parts held together, so as to produce therequisite arch and the requisite tension.' A

The wedges may or should have tenons, ff, that t into grooves formed incr by plates, h, that line the posts, as is shown more clearly in fig; 3.

Ifthe wood-work oi' the brdgexshouid begin'to shrink, the wedges are drawn farther down, and the whole is made tight again. The top and bottom chord can be almost entirely dispensed with, if the sections are thus united, and the whole structure doestherefore, not depend solely-upon the strength of these chords, as it does inthe ordinary bridges.

I claim as new, and desire to' secure by Letters Patent;

1.v The construction' and arrangement of the frame of a bridge, of separate sections, B B and B', in comnination with the wedges F F, substantially as herein shown and described. Y v

2. The wedges F F, combined with the screw-rods e and nuts g, substantially as and for. the purpose herein shown and described.

v EDWARD M. CARPENTER.

Witnesses: i

Guns. G. DILL,

THOMAS BROWN; 

